I thought the overall premise was good, if a little far-fetched for my tastes. Once it really got into the struggle of Melanie and Wanda as they battled with their feelings for both Jared and Jamie, along with the difficulties of befriending those who Wanda thought of as monsters, or at the very least cruel creatures, it really got interesting.
The basic idea behind the book is that the earth is invaded with parasitic “souls”, which take over the human consciousness of the hosts they occupy. However, in some cases, the take-over is not complete. In the case of our main character “Wanda” (or Wanderer), her host was still very much present in her mind.
A struggle for control ensues, resulting in Wanda retaining control of the body, but Melanie, the host, taking the wheel when it comes to emotions.
After months of struggle, Melanie decides that Wanda is trustworthy enough that she might safely persuade her to try to find her missing family and partner. In the process, Wanda nearly dies in the desert. However, the missing family finds her, and takes her in. They live in a series of underground caves, safe from the “Seekers” which track down native humans in order to insert “souls” into them.
Understandably, they distrust Wanda/Melanie, and many of the rebels want to kill her. Throughout the course of the book, there are many assassination attempts.
Wanda/Melanie are reunited with her brother and partner. The young brother believes Wanda when she tells him that Melanie is still alive in her mind. Jared, the lover, does not at first.
Wanda is very conflicted when it comes to her feelings concerning both of these people, since Melanie’s emotions become her emotions. As a result, she feels a motherly protection toward her teenage brother, and a lot of desire and love for Jared as well.
This changes somewhat when another man, Ian, becomes involved. He is one of the few people who chooses to befriend Wanda in the beginning. In fact, only he, Jeb (the old uncle who was the leader), and Jamie, her brother, would even get near Wanda.
Finally, for most of them, Wanda became an accepted fixture, even allowing her to help with raids and chores.
The main focus of the book seems to be her struggle with her feelings for Ian versus Melanie’s feelings for Jared. This ultimately leads to a rather climactic ending, which first made me cry, then made me very, very happy.
Overall, I would recommend reading this book, if you like romance, mystery and sci-fi at all.
I think Stephanie did a pretty good job with her first adult novel. I was a little confused about a couple of the twists, but overall, it was a decent read.
